A Helping Hand or A Perilous Push?
by AlegraBauman
Summary: Aria's cousin, Kayla Danson is back in Rosewood. Her dark past following her, Kayla quickly discovers Aria's and Ezra's affair. But will she expose the affair? Also, can she help the girls find out who A is? ...Taking this one to the grave.
1. Chapter 1

Aria, Hanna, Emily and Spencer stepped into Aria's house. They wandered into the living room laughing and talking but stopped dead when a tall dark haired girl entered from the kitchen. Ella stepped in behind her smiling.

"Kayla?" Aria smiled and stepped forward slightly.

"Hey Aria, hi girls" she smiled to Hanna, Emily and Spencer slightly. They smiled back.

Kayla wasn't much older than Aria, early twenties at least.

"Kayla's staying with us for a few weeks" Ella gave Aria a slight nod and smile.

"Really? Cool!" Aria's response was slightly awkward though her smile was sincere.

Kayla looked to Ella slightly "so you want me to take a look at that file now?"

Ella's eyebrows raised slightly "oh yeah I'd forgotten about that, I'll show you now. Are you girls staying for tea?"

"Um no we just came back to look at some clothes for Friday night" Aria began to walk towards the stairs.

"Okay well don't be out too late; I want you home for tea 6 o'clock okay?" Aria stopped at the stairs and nodded smiling to her mom.

Once they were out of sight Kayla turned to Ella. "They've grown huh? I remember those girls being like 12!"

"Yeah...they've had a rough few years" Ella sighed and Kayla nodded. They headed off to the office.

...

Hanna through herself on to Aria's bed followed by Emily and Spencer while Aria sat at her desk.

"I can't believe your cousin's back in town" Hanna gasped sitting up slightly.

"I thought she went to war" Emily looked to Aria with confusion.

"She did, she served for 3 years but...after what happened out there she never went back" Aria looked down slightly.

Spencer's eyes narrowed "I can't even begin to imagine what she went through out there...she was always so fun and nice and well happy"

"Well that's the first time I've seen her since she got back, maybe she still is" Aria shrugged her shoulders slightly.

Hannah stood up "uh well, let's get started on your outfit for Friday and your date with Mr Fitz" her eyes widened at the end with excitement.

"Shh" Aria placed her fingers to her lips "not so freakin' loud!"

Hannah shrugged her shoulders and laughed.

...

Later that night at dinner they sat in comfortable conversation.

"We never do this you know" Ella laughed slightly as she put her fork down "it's nice we should do it more often"

Bryan laughed "yeah we got to reel this kids in more"

"Reel us in? We aren't fish" Mike shook his head smiling.

Aria smiled slightly and looked to Kayla. "So where are you going after here Kay?"

"Um, well I think I'm gonna head west, visit some friends in Cali...although I may be back in Rosewood soon" Kayla glances to Ella who smiles slightly.

"Oh yeah" Mike sits forward slightly with a sincere smile.

"Yeah, uh there's a position opening at the hospital um and you know my experience as a medic is invaluable to them" Kayla shrugs her shoulders and sips some of her wine.

"It must be weird being back in Rosewood" Aria's voice was light and thoughtful.

"It is. I mean I grew up in this place and then when I was 16 I left and well...that was a long time ago. Things have changed...considerably" Kayla laughs slightly.

Mike smiles slightly "It'd be cool if you stayed though"

"I think so too" Kayla nods playfully.

"Have you spoke to Julia about it yet?" Ella asks.

Kayla rolls her eyes "you know your sister...I'm thinking maybe I'll just take the job and be like...hey...I live in Rosewood now"

Byron raises his eyebrow "good luck with that"

"Thanks uncle B" Kayla smiles to him.

"Well...here's better than over there right?" Ella touches Kayla's hand smiling.

"I'll drink to that" Kayla smiles back to her and raises her glass jokingly. They smile slightly.

"Are you going to go back?" Mike asks sitting forward.

Kayla shakes her head and looks down at her plate. Aria looks to Ella who offers her a slight smile.

...

The next morning Aria steps wearily down the stairs. Even after her shower she still felt tired, run down even. She'd thrown up twice that morning. As she enters the kitchen she sees Kayla sat reading the news paper.

"Hey" she smiles to Aria.

Aria nods to her and holds her stomach.

"Woah are you okay? You don't look so good" Kayla stands up and guides Aria to a stool sitting her down.

"I think I've caught a bug" Aria places her head in her hand. Kayla feels her forehead only to feel a slight temperature.

"Well you are a little warm. Why don't you stay off school? Your Mom and Dad have left already but I'll call them and explain" Kayla crosses the kitchen and gets Aria a glass of water.

"No...I've got exams soon I can't miss anything" Kayla hands Aria the water "thanks"

"Well I'll drive you to school and if you need to come home I'll come get you" Aria nods and smiles.

"Thanks Kay" Kayla nods and smiles.

"Come on then" Kayla takes Aria's bag and places a hand on the girl's back. "I have to admit I'm impressed at your dedication though"

"My body disagrees" Aria grunts as they step out the house.

...

As they drive to school Aria places her head on the window and closes her eyes. Kayla glances to her with a worried expression.

"Are you awake or what?" she asks after a moment. Aria grunts in reply. "I'll take that as a yes. Look I don't think it's such a good idea that you go in today. What if you get everyone else sick and cause an epidemic? What if I go in, get your work for the day and you can do it at home?" Aria grunts again still not moving her head off the window. "Yes? Sweet" Kayla laughs slightly and shakes her head.

...

Kayla takes the key out of the ignition and looks to Aria. She moves some of the hair that's fallen onto her face and smiles.

"I'm gonna go in and get your work okay kiddo? You just...well I'll be back, I can't see you're going anywhere" Kayla laughs and jumps out the car.

At the sound of the door shutting Aria opens her eyes and throws her head back against the seat groaning. A light tapping on the window wakes her. It's Mr Fitz. Smiling slightly she rolls the window down.

"Aria...what are you doing?" Ezra laughs at her state.

"Being ill" Aria grunts her eyes barely open.

"You aren't going to be in class today?" Ezra's expression drops slightly.

"No...Kayla's in there now getting my work for the day and then I'm going home" Aria smiles to him slightly.

"Okay...will you text me to let me know you're alright?" Aria nods and smiles slightly. "I love you" he leans in and kisses her.

"Love you too" Aria smiles to him.

He stands up from the car just as Kayla begins to walk over.

"Can I help you?" she asks, her tone slightly threatening.

"Hi, I'm Mr Fitz, you must be Kayla?" he walks around the front of the car to meet Kayla. Aria watches them through drowsy eyes.

"Yeah, I'm Aria's cousin. You're one of her teachers?" Kayla eyes him carefully.

"Yeah" Ezra smiles to her slightly. She smiles back.

"Oh, well Aria's not so well so I've come to pick up some of her work for the day, have you got anything you'd like to add to the pile?" Kayla lifts up the stack of books she's holding.

"No, she just needs to continue working through the reading list" Ezra smiles again.

"Awesome. Well nice to meet you Mr Fitz" Kayla nods to him slightly.

"Nice to meet you too, hope Aria's feeling better soon" he nods to Kayla and glances at Aria who's fallen back asleep in the car.

Kayla sticks the books on the back seat and gets into the front of the car.

Mumbling Aria turns to face Kayla "what were you and Ezra talking about?"

Kayla looks at her for a moment eyes piercing and knowing. Aria looks back at her eyes droopy "we were talking about school work, Aria. Go back to sleep" Kayla's tone was cut off and quiet. She pulled her seat belt across her and reversed out of the car space. Her expression held a slightly look of worry and even anger.


	2. Chapter 2

It was mid afternoon and any work that Aria had been attempting to do was completely tossed to the side. Instead she sat next to Kayla on the couch watching Maury. For the first hour or so Kayla had been in a fairly bad mood but it seemed to have lifted, although Aria didn't seem to notice all that much. As the fourth episode of the Maury marathon began Aria rested her head sleepily on Kayla's shoulder. Kayla smiled slightly at the action and moved her arm around so Aria was cuddled into her side.

"You starting to feel better yet kiddo?" Kayla asked softly.

"Little bit" Aria muttered sleepily. "I'm glad I stayed off" Aria turns her head up to look at Kayla "thank you"

"No need to thank me, you're my lil cuz remember" Aria laughed slightly and nodded before turning her attention back to the TV. "Remember when you were younger and I'd babysit, we'd send Mike to bed and watch movies just like this"

"Yeah haha, he was always so pissed"

"I know, we'd put something "scary" on but end up watching Legally Blonde or something instead"

"Remember when we watched Scary Movie?" Aria laughed slightly.

"Oh yeah, remember when you told you parents we _watched_ Scary Movie" Kayla dug her fingers into Aria's side making her laugh.

"Oops, yeah. Sorry about that" Aria looked up to her and offered her an apologetic smile.

"Long since forgiven" Kayla rolled her eyes and Aria looked back to the TV. They sat in silence for a moment. Kayla bit her lip slightly before she spoke "so a lot's happened since I left huh"

Aria's eyes lowered for a moment, she knew what she was talking about "yeah" she replied quietly.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get to the funeral, it's such a shame what happened to Allison" Kayla gave Aria's arm a light squeeze.

"I know, she would have understood I'm sure. She always liked you, all my friends do" Aria smiled slightly.

"Wonder what they'll say when I move back"

"Probably 'can I borrow your ID' or 'can you go in and get us some vodka please'"

"Oh you're plugging that one already? I haven't even been here two days and you're using me for my license" Kayla laughs.

"Well, you're family. What's mine is yours and vice-versa" Aria reasoned.

"Are you still going to be saying that when I borrow your straightners?"

"Um well, actually" Aria laughed playfully.

"Thought so" Kayla laughed with her.

They sat in comfortable silence for a moment. Aria held the hand that wasn't hugging her and gave it a slight squeeze.

"I'm glad you're back Kay, it's good to see you"

Kayla looked down to her for a moment. Although she was smiling worry was clear in her eyes. Gently she rested her cheek against Aria's head.

"It's good to see you too kiddo"

**Just a short instalment. I'll write a bigger one on Saturday! Glad you're enjoying it so far! AB**


	3. Chapter 3

Two days after Aria's day off school the girls stopped by Emily's house. They were all sat in the bed in a somewhat circle.

"So you feeling better then?" Hannah asks Aria.

"Yeah, loads...Kayla really looked after me. I'm glad she's back to be honest" Aria smiled softly to which the girls copied her smile.

"Are you excited for your date with Ezra tomorrow?" Spencer gasps having suddenly remembered the event. The girls laugh at her reaction.

"I am yeah...but..." Aria looks down, her own memory coming back.

Spencer glances to the other girls "but what?" she asks confused.

"I think..." Aria looks up to them all "...I think that maybe Kayla knows"

"What?" they all exclaim. Aria nods with her eyebrows raised.

"But how?" Emily asks quietly.

"Well, when I went in the other morning I pretty sure she could have seen me and Ezra kiss...and...I may or may not have called him Ezra in the car...and she may or may not have been in a very, very funny mood after that" Aria sighed after her revelation.

Spencer replies first "shit."

Aria raises her eyebrow "yup".

"So what are you going to do?" Hannah's voice is quiet.

"What can you do? I mean you don't know for sure that she knows right?" Spencer sits up slightly as she speaks.

"No...I don't know what I'm going to do" Aria shrugs her shoulder.

"Do you think she'll tell your Mom and Dad" Spencer asks.

Aria purses her lips and shrugs her shoulders.

...

Later that night Aria is sat downstairs flicking through the TV. The house is empty as Ella and Bryon our out for tea and Mike is at a friends house. She rolls her head back against the couch as the front door opens.

"Hey" Kayla calls.

"Hey, it's just me in" Aria calls back, looking back at the TV.

Kayla enters the living room and takes a seat next to her on the couch.

"Where'd you go?" Aria asks looking to her.

"Went for a few drinks at O'Grady's seeing a friend" Kayla leans back against the couch.

"Are you drunk?" Aria eyes her carefully.

Kayla glances to her and shakes her head.

"No, I'm not you" Kayla smirks slightly and Aria slaps her arm "ow"

"Are you in the for the night now?"

"Um I think so, are you?"

"Yeah"

Kayla sits forward slightly "really?"

Aria offers her a confusing look "really. Why?"

"I dunno...when I was your age I didn't come home until at least midnight on a week night...don't you like have a boyfriend to see" Kayla's eyes flickered with knowing. Aria didn't miss it.

"Uh-uh- no...no boyfriend" she looks to the television.

"You always were a dreadful liar" Kayla sighs. "You can go out if you want, I'll tell your Mom and Dad you went to Hannah's or something"

Aria looks to her again, eyes scanning to seek Kayla's true objective. Kayla smiles to her. "No, it's fine... like I say...no plans"

"Alright, you had anything to eat?" Kayla stands up.

"Nope, not yet" Aria smiles awkwardly to her.

"Shall we order some pizzas in then?" Aria nods, Kayla winks to her.

As Kayla heads into the kitchen Aria bites her lip in worry.

'She knows' Aria thinks before closing her eyes slightly.

**Got a lot of university work at the minute so I'll make the next instalment longer with A LOT more action. Maybe bring A in for a bit of trouble? Thanks for reading and reviewing. AB **


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry it's been a while, had a lot of university work and I'm struggling to get this story in order in my head! Know how I want it to finish it's the getting there that's hard!**

The room was filled with a golden light from the hundred or so candles that were dotted around. On the floor in a sea of pillows Aria and Ezra lay cuddled together with a blanket over them.

Aria looked into Ezra's glistening eyes 'I can't believe you lit all these candles, there's so many'

'Do you like it?' he asked quietly.

'Of course, it's...magical' Aria placed a gentle kiss against his lips making him smile.

'What film do you want to watch now then?'

Aria picked her phone up and checked the time 'I can't' her expression dropped 'it's getting late, I have to get back'

Ezra nodded understanding and stood up, helping Aria up with him. 'Have you had a good night?' he asked, wrapping his arms around her lower back.

Aria stood on her tip toes and let her lips linger by his 'it was spectacular'. Smiling, Ezra closed the gap between their lips and kissed her.

Almost as though on queue Aria's phone beeped, an alarm signalling her time was up. Sighing, she switches the alarm off and stares in to Ezra's eyes- both equally filled with sadness. Their words went unspoken, already being said all too often at the end of their time together. Aria takes Ezra's hand and leads him to the front door with her. He snakes his hands around her waist and rests his hand slightly under her shirt against her skin.

'Don't' she whispers quietly.

'I can't help it. The way you feel against my skin...' his words trail off, eyes full of longing.

Aria bites her lip, every part of her feeling willed to stay right there and spend the night with this man, his warmth and love. She takes his wrists gently and pries them off her waists before holding his hands in her own.

'I'll see you tomorrow' she smiles to him.

'See you tomorrow' he smiles back, kissing her once more.

He watches as she walks down the hall, placing his head back against the doorframe with a sigh. Her head turns back and she smiles to him again. He smiles back before stepping in and closing the door.

...

Kayla is sat in her car. Her elbow rests against the widow and her fingers rest against her lips as she watches a door across the street. Aria steps out and looks around before walking off. She walks a few steps before stopping in her tracks. Kayla lowers her hand and starts the engine. Aria looks back to the car, turning to face it when she realises who it is. Kayla puts her foot down and spins the car around in the street so it parks perfectly next to Aria. She rolls the window down.

'Get in' she orders quietly.

Aria looks back to the apartment for a moment before entering the car.

...

They'd been driving for at least half an hour. Kayla hadn't spoken a word. Aria shifted nervously and looked at the driver.

'Where are we going? I was meant to be home 20 minutes ago...' her voice was quiet.

'They know you're with me' Kayla replied simply.

Aria's face dropped 'do they-'

'Do they know? No. If they did don't you think you'd be in their car?' Kayla's eyes stayed focused on the road ahead. They pulled down a country road.

...

The car came to a stop at a cliff head. It looked out over a big expanse of field and but was lightly surrounded by a small forest.

'Why are we here?' Aria asked nervously.

'I come here when I need to think' Kayla replied quietly. She turns the engine off.

They sat in silence for a moment.

'How long have you known?' Aria begins the conversation anxiously.

'Since the morning I caught you and him kissing in the car park' she replied calmly.

'Why didn't you say anything?'

Kayla shrugs her shoulders. 'I don't know...'

'Are you going to tell my parents?'

Kayla looks to her for the first time for the entire car journey.

'No' she looks away again.

They sit in silence again.

A tear falls down Aria's cheek. 'Thank you' her voice is quiet and slightly broken.

Kayla sighs and uneasy breath and places her hand on the wheel. She looks to Aria and nods with uncertainty.


End file.
